One would be hard pressed to find a team on campus as successful over the past decade as the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers.

The Icers have been to the ACHA National Championship for nine consecutive years, winning five in that span. Recently however, the team has come up a little short in its quest for national dominance, finishing second in each of the past three seasons.

This weekend, Penn State will start off this year's campaign at Washington & Jefferson at 6 p.m. Saturday, and will follow that up with a road contest against an NCAA Division I opponent in Robert Morris at 4 p.m. Sunday.

With aspirations of returning to the top of the ACHA, this year's edition of the Icers will have one noticeable omission -- former head coach Joe Battista. The Icers turned to assistant coach Scott Balboni to take the reins of the program after Battista stepped down last spring.

"I've been involved with coaching with Joe for seven years, and this will be the first time without him on the bench," Balboni said. "It will be different, but I'm very excited about the opportunity but very nervous about it too."

Any nervousness comes as no surprise, as the Icers will be heading on the road to open the season and will take on an NCAA varsity program very early on. Facing a new season with a first-year head coach is one thing, but the Icers will be doing it with only two seniors on the roster, in forward Mike McMullen and goalie Chris Matteo.

McMullen, along with sophomore Paul Zodtner, will assist junior defenseman Keith Jordan as captains.

With a young, yet seasoned, team, the Icers could be getting leadership from all over the lineup.

"We have a great sophomore class that has had a lot of playing experience last year, so they're on the same page as us," McMullen said. "We're not the most vocal guys, we don't do a lot of yelling and screaming, but we know when to pick our spots and say something. And the guys have been responsive."

Also leading to the possible unnerving start of the season will be the fact that the Icers will split up their No. 1 scoring line last year, that featured McMullen, and then-freshmen Frank Berry and the team's leading scorer, Luke DeLorenzo. While it may seem as if splitting up a go-to trio might be a mistake, Balboni aims to give the team more balance for all of its lines, able to score no matter who may be on the ice. McMullen credits the depth of the team for providing three very solid, and dangerous lines that Penn State can feature.

"We can force teams to play everyone on the ice, instead of being on one player," Balboni said.

On the blue line the Icers will have leadership with Jordan and the team's only other senior, Matteo, will play a big role between the pipes.

Although Balboni said he is not sure if his senior goalie will assume the true No. 1 status, the elements of this team that do have some continuity have the Icers resting a little easier before being thrown right into the fire this weekend.

"We've had the Blue-White game and some nervousness with some of the younger guys showed there, hopefully we got some of that nervousness worked out," Balboni said. "Once we get used to the tempo and playing in front of those crowds, we should be alright."